Xuancheng — a city in Anhui province best known for producing quality paper — is experiencing a mini tourism boom thanks to a stray dog and a group of kindhearted taxi drivers who came to its rescue.

The story of "Chief Huang" a gentle rural mutt that had made Xuancheng Railway Station its home, has captured the country's imagination with tens of millions of online views.

On one platform, Douyin, a local animal rescue blogger Wang Mingxuan posted a video he filmed about the rescue, which received 368,000 likes and 100,000 shares and comments.

The dog was nearly killed after being hit by a car in mid-April, but was eventually saved by a group of local taxi drivers who banded together to pay the medical bill.

In what they have dubbed "boomerang love" tourists traveled to Xuancheng, a city of some 2.7 million people, during the May Day holiday, to return the act of kindness.

"It brought tears to my eyes," wrote one netizen. "In this fast-paced society, it's already a touching story that there's a group of people willing to stop and help a little dog. Moreover, these are people who rely on every minute to earn a living for their families. I'm grateful that there is such goodness in this world."